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I Swear… Often!

There are so many reasons to hate medical facilities.

One reason is shitty driving and parking. Why the fuck are there never enough parking spots? Why is it that you’re trying to get to an appointment where you’re going to be charged if you’re late but you can’t park? So your blood pressure is elevated when you get into the place and immediately you’re put on BP meds and Statins…

OH! I get it! They do this so they can make more money selling shit you don’t really need! Duhh!

Then there’s this stupid shit.

Yeah this is a vehicle in a handicapped spot but at least you’d think they could park head in and between the lines instead of at a jaunty angle that makes every one else have to jockey around.

But NO! Why shouldn’t they park like they do in the third world shit hole they come from?

It’s little things like this that we ignore because we want to be culturally sensitive. Unfortunately, over time, they accumulate into fundamental break downs in what those of us raised in the USA call common rules. This shit is a low level annoyance that adds stress to the situation.

How about everyone adhere to the same set of rules?

It’s annoying too because we’d expect even newcomers to our country to at least follow the example set my the majority of the other people who have already parked.

The folks in the car pictured, appear to have come from India or wherever. They have a handicap sticker apparently they’re brain dead too.

Then at this particular medical facility there aren’t enough bathrooms. Well, there were enough bathrooms beforethey made two bathrooms on the ground floors gender neutral.

So now the one bathroom closest to the parking lot entrance that was a men’s room is gender neutral. The Other bathroom in the other building is still a Women’s. The two bathrooms at the opposite ends of the building halls are one Gender Neutral and another Woman’s.

The bathrooms on the second floor adhere to the same pattern. Guess what?

The gender neutral bathrooms always have lines of women outside them.

As a man, what am I supposed to do? Hang it in the bushes because all I have to do is piss.

This is why there are almost never lines in front of Men’s rooms. We don’t mind pissing in front of each other or against a wall for that matter. Why at a medical facility of all places would you create a situation where 1/2 of the population is treated like trash?

Oh right… Men are shit so let’s fuck ‘em all the damn time.

At least this is what’s happened in fucking Commifornia.

At this point I think it should be ALL or NOTHING!

Either make every bathroom gender neutral or none of them. Particularly in the medical facilities. This one in Loma Linda is just one example. When the other half was in the hospital I encountered the same stupid shit! The gender neutral bathrooms had lines waiting, the women’s rooms were vacant, and the men were left pissing on the walls in the parking structure or using the bathroom in patients rooms.

Hell even the car wash that I used to go to all the time, got so tired of dealing with people bitching that they had a men’s and a women’s room that they removed all the restrooms!

Now the guys piss on the wall. So what? It’s mostly guys who are hand washing their cars and their wives cars in the first place.

You just know, there had to be some nasty ass blue haired bitch screaming about gender neutral bathrooms, so everyone lost.

Gee thanks you blue haired jackass.

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Maybe I dodged a bullet with the new iPhone

I haven’t been able to order a new iPhone.

It’s a simple thing, I want a completely unlocked phone right from the start. I don’t want to have to monkey around with unlocking a phone from a carrier or any of the other bullshit contractual obligations that are included in the fine print of a purchase.

T-Mobile, you really need to train your reps in Costco better… Based on my interaction with a blue hair guy? girl? Amorphous fat ass? I’m seriously reconsidering our working relationship.

No, your representative wasn’t rude or whatever. He/she/it/they/them, was simply not listening. I’ve been noticing that more and more with your representatives across the board, since T-Mobile and Sprint merged.

It’s always questionable which corporate culture will survive when two companies merge. This is especially true if one corporation is diseased and shitty as Sprint was, and the other corporation is relatively healthy. 

I think from here on out, I’ll be betting on the shitty corporation infecting the healthy corporation and taking all the services to the lowest, laziest, common denominator. 

The only benefit I received at the T-Mobile Kiosk was that I got to see the new iPhone in person. It’s nice.

I wasn’t going to go through the machinations necessary to order one on the T-Mobile account, then trade in my current phone, then pay off the T-Mobile Payment plan purchase early, then go to T-Mobile to unlock the phone. That’s just a load of annoyance that I don’t want to deal with.

I was tempted…

I’m glad I waited. There have been some interesting articles about the new iPhone Pros getting nice and toasty while in use. 107°F by one article’s account. There have been reports of the phones being blemished or outright damaged right out of the box. 

How disappointing would that be? Your brand new hotness, right out of the box, with a nasty gouge in it as you peel the protective plastic off.

I’ve also seen at least one photo of an iPhone Pro Max that looked like not only did the back glass of the phone shatter easily but the new titanium frame looked like it had cracked too.

Titanium is strong, light and useful for a lot of things, but I seem to recall that it’s kind of crystalline when you see the raw metal. I also seem to recall that if you don’t make it just right, it’s prone to cracking. I’m wondering if that’s not part of what we’re seeing in some of the reports about the phones glass, (front or back) shattering.

In the announcement event, there was some mention of alloying the titanium frame with aluminum structural components within the phone, presumably as a heat sink. Titanium can be alloyed with a number of other metals, but again, that has to be done carefully. 

I wonder if this is another situation where China’s sloppy quality control has created a disaster. Or maybe manufacturing at the scale Apple is attempting is just not yet reliable. Maybe it’s a little from column A, and a little from column B.

Perhaps, I’ll just wait until the iPhone 16 and hope they make it in a color I like.

There’s also been some chatter about Apple’s replacement for leather. Folks are finding that a week or so of use presents them with staining indicative of fabrics, instead of the durability of leather. I’m thinking that my future phone cases will either be silicone from Apple, or I’ll be buying leather from another vendor. Most likely silicone…

Before you get your panties in a twist over my consideration of leather, let me present the following use cases.

I’m using a Franklin leather binder that I’ve had since 2008. It’s in very good shape and I have no intention of replacing it anytime in the near future. I have two TUMI leather briefcases. The smaller one is the one I use most often. That case is 4 -5 years old, the larger one is 15 years old. TUMI will repair a briefcase at a reasonable cost and send it back to you.

So if you talk about sustainability. How is using leather unsustainable? Sure, if you replace leather items every year, then that’s a problem. But if you buy leather, take care of it, and don’t find a need to buy the item over and over I’d bet the sustainability equation tips in favor of leather.

How much energy does it take to make these new fiber cases? How often will consumers replace them and why? Are these new fiber products biodegradable, and how long does that take? 

Honestly, if Apple would stop changing the phone shapes every year so that last years case doesn’t fit this years phone, perhaps sustainability would go up and pollution would go down in amounts equal to their switch from using leather goods.

I haven’t purchased one of Apple’s leather cases since the iPhone 5. I found that their leather case wasn’t grippy enough and I dropped the phone twice, then went third party silicone with nice grippy knurls on either side. No more dropping my phone.

Since I replace my phone every 3-4 years, after the iPhone 5 debacle it’s never seemed reasonable to invest in leather unless, like the MagSafe wallet, it could be used on other iPhones.

Sustainability and being climate responsible isn’t just about companies. It’s also about asking questions of yourself. 

Questions such as:

Do I need a new phone?
Do I need a new leather jacket, phone case, or brief case? The leather jacket bit is funny, because with vintage all the rage people buy “Vintage” looking stuff but don’t have the patience to make it “vintage” by wearing it year after year.
I guess the question really boils down to “Do I Need xyz” or “Do I Want xyz”.

It’s okay to want, but feeling like you need to buy the newest, latest, flashiest every year might be part of the problem.

I’d like a new iPhone because there has been enough change that a new phone is a pretty substantial upgrade to what I have. But… do I need it this year? Not really. My old phone works just fine, (the battery is showing signs of its age,) but I can go another year and avoid what may be an Apple screw up in the iPhone 15 Pro.

Maybe that’s exactly what I’ll do. I’ll keep reading the articles to see what’s happening.

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Wow! The other half had a lot of musical scores in digital format.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have much of a filing system for either Paper or Digital scores.

Screenshot 2023 09 30 at 7 29 50 AM

I’ve been trying to collect up all the music (Digital and Paper), and sort it with the intention of making sure that it got to the people that could use it and who would appreciate the effort.

I’m using a 32GB thumb drive now and unlike previous attempts will hopefully not run out of space.

I’ve also been finding a lot of duplications. I suspect that is in part due to the lack of a filing system and in part it might be further evidence that he’d been “off” for a while and was doing a damn fine job of hiding that fact from me.

No, I’m not angry about it. I’m just a little sad. He did his life, his way, as do I. We called “Shotgun” on each other’s journey through life and rode together for a long time. It’s cool, even if I am a little sad about the way things went from time to time.

As an aside, I have no clue how music is supposed to be catalogued, or indexed, or anything else.

I’m just doing what seems “Right” with the music much the same way I’ve done with every other curveball that’s come my way over the past 10 months.

In addition to the actual musical scores, some of which are only identifiable by opening them. (I’m fixing that slowly but surely.) I’ve also run into actual recordings where he was playing and recording into GarageBand either via a MIDI connection or he was using a microphone. Hearing him play has been somewhat jarring because I recognize his style and technique. It’s okay, but I’m still prone to crying over stuff like that, because the memories of him practicing a particular piece come flooding back. 

I’ll be a little sad over not being annoyed and hiding out in the office as he played the same measure over and over again trying to get it just right. In a way it was like RAP with Classical music!

I hate RAP!

As I typed that, I was smiling through misty eyes.

I’m sorting the music as best I can. If something has Hebrew characters in it, then it’s obviously going into the Jewish music folder. If it’s written in Russian It’s probably a fair bet that too is going to be Jewish Music. That is also true of German and Spanish.

I’m so out of my depth!

I’ve been looking for keywords in the scores. If I find anything that is recognizably Hebrew or Yiddish I know where to file it.

Christian music is a little easier because there I only have to scan for “Jesus” or Holy Ghost or Father, Son and Holy Spirt. You don’t find those kinds of references in Jewish Music.

Things start to get dicy when there are no lyrics, only the musical notation. If the title isn’t obvious, then I’m in a bit of trouble. 

If I can sound it out and recognize the roots or the rhythm of the piece  then I’ve got a shot at getting it in the right place. Some music is instantly recognizable as Jewish when you hear it.

I recognize the names of many classical pieces, or at least the composer so those scores go into the Classical Folder.

But wait! There’s more…

The harp music, the organ music, the piano, harpsichord, and even accordion music is all in one big assed digital pile.

For him, this presented no problem. He’d open an arrangement and know exactly what instrument it was for just by looking. Hell, I think sometimes he didn’t care what the score said the instrument was supposed to be. I think he’d just figure it out on the fly. That’s what a classically trained musician can do. It’s a skill built up over a lifetime and it’s amazing to watch in action.

I’ve been trying to sort the Harp and keyboard music into separate folders. Some of the folks that will be looking at this are classically trained musicians, but others aren’t.  Some of the amateur choir members can carry a tune and read music, but I know the other half curated very carefully what he gave to the choir.

It wasn’t about him disrespecting them, it was about not wanting to frustrate them with super busy scores. Sometimes he’d sit down and manually do choir only notation as a new file that he’d print here. Then we’d assemble the choir books if he wanted or needed my help.

I was probably next to useless because I didn’t read music. But I could follow instructions, run the printer, punch holes in pages, and we’d be spending the time together.

I know I could just hand all of the over to “Real” musicians instead of a hack like me. One reason that I don’t is because also mixed in this big pile of musical scores are receipts, and medical evaluations, and all the usual documents that one accumulates. So I have to be the one that filters all of this stuff out. 

Some of the pieces of music where he’s actually playing are in Apple only formats. Not a problem for me… But the Synagogue and Church are Windows based. So I’m letting my super fast computer handle processing the music into something universally playable. That takes time. Not much in the way of computer time, but time listening to the various edits and editions to determine which one is most likely to be the “Final” version that he’d want distributed.

Perhaps I’m doing all of this as much for me, and the other half, as I am for the Synagogue and Church.

It’s tedious, and time consuming. But I’m hoping to construct something that he’d be proud of. 

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DAMN! I hoped to not need the heat…

For at least another week or two. I was drawing runes on the floors asking Odin for another month without needing it. 

But alas, when I woke this morning, the house was in the low 50’s. That is too dang cold!  So I broke down and kicked the heater on.

I don’t like being super coldDSC0174, but I like even less the high cost of Natural Gas and don’t want to pay another outrageous bill like January and February of this year. This coming winter, my place is likely to be much colder than in years past.

With the other half’s harps out of the house I can keep it cooler because I’m not risking damage to the harps or having strings break due to the temperature.

My guitars, on the other hand, are going to be sharp as hell! So I’ll need to retune them frequently until the temp stabilizes.

I guess this means that Autumn is really here.

On the one hand perhaps the risk of fire danger is lower, on the other hand, It may feel like, the endless winter from Narnia. 

No matter, it’s a milestone. Another season passing. The first Autumn in many years that I’ll be alone. Later today, I’ll dig out my seasonal jackets. 

Life goes on. I need to get out and socialize a bit more, even if it means dealing with what passes for human beings these days.

I also need to observe humans interacting if I’m going to write stories containing humans. I’ve been thinking that perhaps a Jane Goodall approach might be appropriate. I’ll venture out into the wilds of Palm Springs, and begin observations without interacting until they don’t see me as a potential rival or threat.

I suppose I also need to check the Autumn “ToDo” list. There are a few things that need to be done before it gets to the point that I’ll need winter gloves when I’m outside. That’s a month or two away, but it seems unusually cold for this time of year. Oh perhaps it’s normally cold, and we’ve been experiencing warmer than “normal” fall weather for the past few years. 

Either way, it doesn’t change that there’s stuff I need to get done.

I’ve agreed to take a neighbor to a medical appointment on Wednesday. Perhaps while I’m waiting on him, I’ll head out to a local hardware store for supplies that I’ll need to winterize the house. I’m not going to get any painting done this year thanks to the flood control guys. Sand, dust, and debris blowing into wet paint just doesn’t look right.

It’s okay, if it’s a rough winter as predicted, I’d probably have to paint again come Spring, especially if I sell the house.

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How I know it’s time to go home…

Alright, I’m not proud of this but I’ve got to own it.

I went shopping on Thursday. I drove a ways to get to a shopping center where there was a Costco, Petco, Boot Barn, Office Depot, and a Ralphs all in close proximity to each other.

I actually had a pretty nice time. I got some sweatpants and underwear at Costco, picked up some USB memory sticks at Office Depot, got dog treats at a very nice Petco and shopped the Boot Barn because I like boots.

I’m not Imelda Marcos… BUT I COULD BE!

I also got my steps for the day in. The only time I had to move the car was to go to the Ralphs grocery store. It is close to all the rest of the stores but is still a few blocks away.

Getting into the parking lot was easy and the lot itself was pretty empty. I scored a parking spot right next to the Handicapped spots, grabbed my shopping bags and went to buy groceries. When I come out, I’m in a pretty good mood although I wasn’t thrilled with the cash I’d just spent. 

Bigstock Single Car In Empty Parking Lo 3211233

I was thinking as I put groceries into the trunk that I’d need to see how far I could stretch the food and do better at coupons and such. Turning to get the next bag out of the cart I notice a car double parked with the driver waiting inside and watching me.

Yep! The fucker was waiting on the spot I was in, with a parking lot full of empty spots. But this asshole was waiting on my spot. He Literally could have driven to the next aisle over and parked his piece of shit nose to nose with my vehicle. The parking spot in front of my car had been empty when I pulled in and was still empty.

But NOOOO!

This fucker needed to have the spot I was occupying, and he was creating a traffic jam to do it. 

I’m Sorry but this kind of stupid shit really sets me off.

In thinking about it I think it pisses me off because in a way it’s passive aggressive, it’s bullying, and it’s trying to rush me. That may not have been what this moron was trying to accomplish but it sure as hell is how it felt to me!

I can understand this behavior at Christmas when the lots literally have zero spaces available. But mid day in a lot where there are tons of other spaces to park??? Nah it’s bullshit!

I tried to shrug it off. Then I got into my car and realized that I couldn’t see the son of a bitch. I knew he was there and I knew he’d crowded the space enough that I might not be able to make the turn out of the parking space to go the direction I wanted to go. I might have to, because of this asshole, go the opposite direction, then have to thread my way through pedestrian traffic and other people trying to park and maneuver around this guy.

It’s at about this time, my ASSHOLE switch got flipped!

I refused to go the direction this fucker was trying to impose on me. I chirped the tires backing out of the parking slot and came within inches of hitting this fool. He managed to back up just in time.

I wasn’t done! I was really pissed off because what had been such a lovely shopping experience has suddenly turning into confrontation due to a rude thoughtless selfish motherfucker.

I went to the end of the lane and came around again just in time to roll my window down and tell this stupid fuck exactly what I thought of him, his family, his mother’s marital status when he was born, and suggested that he’d eaten too much lead paint when he was a child. (Yes I could say many of these things because the dumb fuck was about my age and he’d understand what I was saying.)

I also pointed out that there were no less than six other empty parking spots all equidistant from the grocery store’s door that he could have selected and that in the time he was waiting for me to pull out, he could have been in the damn store doing his shopping.

Then I drove off flipping him the bird out my sunroof!

That was only the beginning.

VehiclesTraffic was okay until I got within 10 miles of home. At that point one of the traffic behaviors that sends me into a blind rage was in full effect. 

All the lanes were moving at the same approximate speed with a mile or two of wide open space ahead of a bunch of drivers like sheep blocking all the lanes. They were pacing the 18 wheelers.

This is something that has been happening a lot lately on the freeway to my exit. There’s no reason for it, it just seems as though everyone decides to start playing pace cars while they’re drooling on themselves.

This is also why it often takes over an hour to go 20 miles near my place. There’s no rhyme or reason, just everyone gets stupid at the same moment. The spell lasts until one or two drivers like myself, a.k.a. impatient with stupidity, manage to punch through and accelerate away from the slack jawed crowd. 

It’s like once the morons see cars moving away, they decide to catch up. I’ve wondered sometimes if there was no change, no outside influence, would these people just keep slowing with everyone else until they came to a stop.

I’ve rarely seen this driving behavior outside California. I saw someone similar once passing through Phoenix but didn’t think anything more about it because so much of Arizona is full of California drivers.

Werewolfbreakingfree

Past New Mexico, driving across country you don’t see this kind of stupid. I take that back… Houston does it. 

I punched through passing a fucking Prius doing 60 in the fast lane where the speed limit is 70. Then made it to my exit, I was by this time in no mood to take the long way which is also less steep up the mountain. I hit the steep windy road and did 90 all the way.

I need to watch for mounting impatience with idiot people and leave for home at the first sign. If I wait and continue to deal with “The Stupid” I’ll lose my shit.

Unfortunately, sometimes “The Stupid” comes looking for me, and then, well, I’m probably gonna respond with howling insanity and make a fool out of myself.

The other half really did a remarkable job of holding me back from the abyss. I miss him and his calm reassurance. I also miss him reading me and sometimes deciding it was time for us to leave a place, or him taking me someplace quiet so I could cool down.

Maybe I’m still a little more raw than I think I am. 

He’d have said the guy waiting on my particular space wasn’t doing what he was doing to annoy me, he’d have said the guy was probably just completely checked out or had smoked too much dope. I’d have asked why I was the one always having to give everybody a pass. 

He’d smile and say, “Because you’re a smarter, better person, and better Man than they are…”

Yeah, he was working me! Stroking my ego to calm me down. 

So What?!? It was one of the innumerable ways that he said he loved me every day.

I hope each and every person knows that kind of love.

I also hope that each and every one of the moronic drivers on California roads learns to drive or can’t afford the gas to drive.

I’m trying to be a better man… I’m not there yet!

😁